Indians rally behind Ramsey’s grand slam

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 27, 2012 at 7:39 AM

Ian Ramsey belted a grand slam in the third and Waynesboro scored 8 runs in the fourth en route to a 17-6 win over Greencastle-Antrim on opening day for both high school baseball squads on Monday in Greencastle.

Mike Berkey

Waynesboro’s bats generated some serious power amidst the lingering cold on Monday in Greencastle, as the Indians blasted Greencastle-Antrim 17-6 in both teams’ varsity baseball openers.

G-A built a 5-1 lead off Indians starter John Brunner after two innings, but Waynesboro’s Ian Ramsey smashed a game-tying grand slam in the third and the Indians poured on 8 runs in the fourth to run away with the win.

Ramsey finished 2-for-3 and added a double and 5 RBI and Jamison Walck was 4-for-4 with a homer, 3 runs and 3 RBI to lead the Indians’ 12-hit attack.

G-A takes lead in first

Waynesboro went up 1-0 in the top of the first off Blue Devil starter Joe Sellitto when Walck singled to center to drive in Ian Smith, who walked.

G-A answered in the bottom half off Brunner when Cole Sellers hit a spinner under the glove of Waynesboro shortstop Greg Wade to bring in Alex Izer, who singled. Sellitto followed with a double down the left field line to score Sellers, and Drew Bittner doubled down the right field line to punch in Sellitto and give the Devils a 3-1 lead.

G-A extended it to 5-1 in the second as Trevor Ile hit a one-out single to left and scored when Grant Meyers crushed a double off the fence in deep center. Meyers scored on Izer’s second single of the game to make it 5-1.

“I really thought we were in deep trouble when they went up 5-1,” Waynesboro coach Greg Chandler said. “We weren’t pitching real well, we weren’t fielding real well and we weren’t hitting real well in the early part of the game.”

Ramsey’s slam ties game

But the Indians came to life at the plate in the top of the third. Nathan Minnich led off with a walk and moved to third after a single by Walck and a walk to Brunner. After Sellitto struck out Jason Staubs, Ramsey came to the plate with the bases loaded for the second time in the game. He struck out in the first inning with the bases juiced, but this time he hit an 0-1 delivery over the fence in left field for a grand slam to even the score.

“I thought that was a huge hit for Ian, no doubt about that,” Chandler said. “I think it kind of knocked the wind out of their sails too, just a little bit.”

The Blue Devils answered with a run in the bottom of the third as Eric Schanzenbacher doubled in DJ Cordell, who reached on a fielder’s choice.

Indians score 8 in fourth

But Waynesboro broke the Devils’ backs with an 8-run fourth inning. Evan Dixon started the inning on the hill for G-A but the Indians got to him right away. Brenton Kopecek led off with a triple to right, followed by an out and an intentional walk to Minnich. Walck singled to left to score Kopecek and move Minnich to third, tying the game at 6-6. Brunner then slammed a double off the center field fence to drive in Minnich as Walck advanced to third, chasing Dixon from the mound as Bittner came on in relief.

After a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch plated two more runs, Zach Calimer smoked a two-run single to left to make it 11-6, and he scored when Kopecek ripped a double down the left field line. Kopecek scored the Indians’ final run of the inning on a throwing error to make the score 13-6.

“The big inning killed us,” G-A coach Casey Brookens said. “We’re not good enough to overcome a big inning quite yet, especially against a team like that. We were trying to get at Brunner early and I think we were getting at him early, but he did a great job by not walking people and he just kept pitching out of situations and their bats were their bullpen.”

Brunner settles into groove

Indeed, after the first three innings, Brunner settled down and shut out the Blue Devils in the fourth and fifth innings before yielding to Jake Rowland. The Indians also added two runs in each of those innings to extend their advantage before winning by the 10-run rule after six innings.

“I think the key was John putting up those two goose eggs there in those middle innings when we scored runs, and that was pretty much the turning point in the game,” Chandler said. “Obviously we’ve got to go back and improve on some things defensively, and pitching-wise too. But we made some adjustments at the plate and we got some good at-bats today. And (Greencastle) didn’t play badly. In the first three innings, they played like they could beat anybody. Somewhere along the road we’ve got to put up some speed bumps, and John did that in the middle innings there in the fourth and fifth.”

“Our guys came out ready to hit today,” Brookens said. “But it just seemed like when we got down, I didn’t see very productive at-bats from many of them. But early in the game I thought we hit the ball great. I thought they were taking good approaches at the plate, I thought they were patient and I thought they hit the ball well.”

Pitching improvement

Brookens would like to see some improvement from his pitching staff.

“We had a scrimmage the other day and our pitchers threw very well, they walked very few, made some great pitches, and today was the exact opposite,” he said. “We walked many and didn’t hit a lot of spots. My catcher (Jared Doyle) blocked 21 balls tonight, and sometimes that’s good, but 21 is an awful lot. With their speed and power, you’ve got to keep guys off base, and we just kept putting guys on base for Minnich and Walck and even the bottom of their order. They just came through and they just hit. If you get behind in counts, then that’s what’s going to happen.”

G-A hurlers walked a total of 12 Waynesboro batters. Sellitto pitched three innings, striking out 5 while walking 6 and allowing 5 runs and 3 hits. Dixon took the loss, and Bittner struck out 4 while walking 5 in three innings.

Brunner earned the win for the Indians, throwing five innings and fanning 5 while walking 3 and giving up 5 earned runs. Rowland pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

In addition to Ramsey and Walck’s strong plate performances, Kopecek was 2-for-5 with a double, triple, 2 runs and an RBI. Staubs and Calimer each drove in a pair of runs while Minnich drew free passes in 4 of his 5 plate appearances and scored 3 times.

Izer led G-A by batting 3-for-4 with a double, RBI, run and stolen base. Meyers, Sellers, Sellitto, Bittner and Schanzenbacher each had one hit and one RBI.

G-A next plays on Wednesday at Shippensburg at 4:15 p.m. Waynesboro takes on Spring Grove at home on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA ~ 30 Walnut St. Waynesboro, PA 17268 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service